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When the 31st annual Pride Parade stepped off on High Street yesterday, it didn’t just celebrate
members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The event also honored their
allies.

And according to gay-rights group Stonewall Columbus, the city is full of them.

“It’s saying ‘I’m straight, but I’m not narrow, I’m standing up for gay rights,’ ” said Karla
Rothan, Stonewall’s executive director. “This year, our theme is ‘Allies in Equality.’ We wanted to
show our allies how much we appreciate them.”

Thousands gathered for Stonewall’s annual Pride Festival at Goodale Park. A cheering crowd
packed a nearly 2-mile stretch of High Street to kick off yesterday’s celebration at midday with
the Pride Parade.

Music echoed through the streets. Hundreds of marchers and flashy floats navigated the masses.
Drag queens donned glitzy gowns, and allies came armed with colorful flags, signs and T-shirts to
show their support.

One of Stonewall’s youngest allies, Rain Maxwell, 15, made the 2-mile trek on stilts with First
Unitarian Universalist Church members. She and her mom, Linda McNabb, live in Columbus and attend
the parade every year.

“There’s an incredible amount of love, support and acceptance here,” McNabb said. “I’ve lived in
big cities all across the country, and no place compares.”

Andrew Ginther, Columbus City Council president, led the parade as Stonewall’s “government ally
of the year” to honor his efforts to promote equality in Columbus.

In 2008, the council made it illegal to discriminate based on sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity or expression. In 2010, the council extended city benefits to the domestic partners of
city employees. The plans for a domestic-partner registry are in place.

“We want to be an inclusive, tolerant, welcoming city,” Ginther said. “It’s important that
allies are out there, standing shoulder to shoulder with folks in the LGBT community, fighting for
fairness and equality.”

And like the city’s inclusiveness, the Pride Festival continues to expand.

It’s now one of the largest gay-rights celebrations in the Midwest, Rothan said. More than
230,000 people attended the two-day celebration, joined by about 600 volunteers and 200 vendors.
The budget for the privately funded event is $206,000.

Brittany Reed and Courtney Arnoldt of Huntington, W.Va., drove for three hours to visit the
festival and show support for their best friends, who are lesbians.“I want to show them no matter
what, through thick and thin, I’ll always be there for them, love them and support them,” Arnoldt
said.

Others, from nearby, said the Pride Festival is a nice break from the small towns they live in
that don’t support their homosexuality.

“Here, thousands of people line the streets to show their support — and they’re not all gay,”
said Matthew Emerine of Fostoria, Ohio. “That has to tell you something about what kind of city
this is.”